Cannelle Histoire
by Nualie
Summary: Spoilers for Chapter 449! Mavis narrated her story, the guild didn't get our nice little flashback. Except Natsu and co aren't exactly a calm audience. Title literally means "Cinnamon Story".
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Fairy Tail story...**

 **Happens during chapter 449 of the manga.**

 **Because you know, while we have a nice flashback and all, Mavis is narrating in the guild hall.**

 **No one checked the grammar, so there's probably some awkward wording here and there. Imma French you see.**

 **I hope you enjoy~**

 **ZERVIS FOREVER!**

* * *

 **Fairy Tail doesn't belong to me, because if it did, Zeref and Mavis would already be dating.**

* * *

"The time has finally come for me to tell all. This is the story of a cursed boy and a cursed girl."

All surprised and sarcastic hushes were promptly silenced by Erza's glare.

"It was over a hundred years ago. Just before the founding of Fairy Tail."

All the eyes were on the small, ghostly form of the First Master. The entire guild was eager to finally _know_.

"We met… By chance."

Mavis drew a breath before continuing.

"He was suffering from the Curse of Ankhseram. A curse by which one would unintentionally take the lives of others."

"Who's she talking about?" asked someone before a whacking sound cut short any other question.

"But I was drawn to him."

Erza let escape a very low "Aww" and Mirajane smirked, but no one paid attention to either, engrossed by the story.

"I had him teach me many things about magic. At the time, Magnolia was under the rule of a Dark Guild. We all learned magic in order to free Magnolia."

"How man-" Elfman interjected before another whacking sound shut him up.

"And in the midst of our fight…"

She paused second to maintain the suspense and Makarov sighed a little.

"I used an incomplete black magic and managed to claim victory." Declared the minuscule girl, abandoning her seriousness a second to adopt a victorious stance.

This announce caused an eruption of shocked comments.

"The first knows Black Magic?"

"What do you mean, incomplete?"

"The guy from before taught it to you, didn't he?"

"Did you end up dating him?"

"LET HER SPEAK!" shouted Makarov, visibly upset.

The First nodded in thanks before continuing her story.

"…And I paid a heavy price."

"Black Arts Tax –whack- Hey!"

"My body was no longer able to grow or mature."

 _I understand your pain, First,_ thought Wendy, in tears. _At least I have hope but you..._

 _So that's why she looks like a moe loli…_ thought the rest of the guild.

"At the time, however, I thought nothing of it."

"Year X686, April, founding of Fairy Tail."

"Shortly thereafter, a struggle over trading rights raged between several different feudal lords. That was the year the second trade war began. Eventually, Mage Guilds, as mercenaries, got dragged into their scuffle."

Her tone reminded one more of a story book than a first-hand witness, but in her eyes the members could see her reliving all those painful, violent moments.

No one interrupted her.

"That is when I received the nickname of _Fairy Tactician_. I was around thirteen years old," she then commented.

The guild members were honestly beginning to feel sorry for their first master.

 _A young girl, around Wendy's age, dragged in a war as strategist?_ Thought Mest, saddened.

"Year X690, the Second Trade War comes to a close. The death toll was over ten times that of the First Trade War. This was said to be due to the introduction of mages and magic to the fighting. The magic world, in light of this, unanimously entered into the Inter-Guild Dispute Interdiction Treaty and so the magic world was blessed with temporary peace."

Her attitude suddenly changed to a slightly more cheerful one.

"Six years later, year X696, I, once again by chance, ran into him."

"But who is hi- whack- that hurts Erza!"

Noticing that Mavis had stopped talking, the guild members focused their gaze on her slight blush. What happened back then?

"I am sorry, First, but that is an important part of your story…"

Her blush grew deeper, but Erza's whacking menace suppressed almost all snickering. Makarov's glare was enough to hush Laxus, though, leaving only Mira's enthusiastic grin and low satanic laugh.

"I… Hmm…"

 _Did she walk on him taking a bath?_ Wondered Lucy, but her reflections were cut short by Mavis continuing her speech.

"I did not know his name, so I called him "Mr. Black Wizard". We recognized each other right away, since neither of us had aged a day."

As she did not whack herself, everyone could hear Erza's eager questioning.

"What happened afterwards?"

"He… didn't want me to approach him, with his curse and all, but I still thanked him for helping us back then."

Mavis was somewhat too red-cheeked for this to be an entirely accurate statement, but no one pried further.

"We chatted a little. That is when I learned his identity."

The entire guild held her breath, waiting for the suspense to end.

"So did you end up dat-whack- Erza, you want to know too!"

Makarov sighed and mumbled something about childish behavior.

"He was the infamous black mage… Zeref."

Erza was caught off-guard, giving her victim time to escape, while this simple statement caused a heated eruption of questions, which in turn caused the ghost to take a step back, intimidated.

"ZEREF?"

"Are we talking about _that_ Zeref?"

"Why would he even help you?"

"What did that ****** doing near Magnolia anyw-whack- why me?"

"Language Gray!"

"That bastard was your teacher?!"

" _He_ taught you black magic?"

"Zeref taught the guild founders magic?"

"The same Zeref bastard who tried to kill Gramps?!"

"WON'T YOU LET HER FINISH?!" roared Makarov, and silence blessed the guild hall once again.

Mavis didn't spare the eighth a glance and firmly continued her story- although the pink hadn't left her cheeks.

"He was nothing like what the rumors pretended, although he denied it."

She received a few disbelieving looks.

"You should have seen him! As sweet as a cinnamon roll!" defended the former guild master, losing her serious demeanor again.

More disbelieving looks.

"Erm, well. Whatever. We continued to chat a bit, about the Eight's birth actually…"

"Wait, it was _that_ long ago?"

"I'm not as old as you think I am, Natsu…" sighed Makarov.

"And he asked me why I hadn't grown up. I told him that because I used Law, my growth was stunted and… I… He… Uuuhh..."

Her light blush from before had evolved into a luminescent one and now overtook her whole face, up to her ears, with an adorable red hue.

"Hmmm… H-He told me that I had the same curse as him… Uuuuhh…" she said, hesitant and avoiding her guildmates' eyes.

 _There's not enough Gray-sama in this story…_ thought Juvia.

 _The same curse as Zeref?!_ Wondered everyone else, stunned by the revelation.

"Aren't you leaving things out?" asked Gray, who had been "mostly" silent up until now.

The blush grew deeper, if possible.

"Wedidn'tdotheforeheadtouchthingatallwhatareyoutalkingaboutnopenopenopeandIdidn'tthinkhewasgonnakissmeforaminutenopenopenopenotatallandhedidn'tmakemecrynopeIdidn'tcryataaaall"

Mavis suddenly ran away crying. Surprised by the outburst, it took a minute for the members to realize they needed to chase and her and they proceeded to look for the first.

"That's… Quite a story." said Lucy once the noise calmed down.

Only Makarov, Happy, Natsu and her remained in the hall, the others having left to find the First.

"Hmm, cinnamon rolls." Said Natsu, dreamy.

"You like cinnamon?" asked Lucy, not expecting him to drool about a non-fiery food.

"Not really… But it reminds me of something I like… Or someone… It's an old memory, before Igneel found me, I think. I'm not sure."

Makarov stared darkly at them and walked out, joining the search party.

Happy could no longer restrain himself and yelled "SHE LIIIIIIIIKES ZEREF" before flying away, chasing Carla.

Lucy could do nothing but stare.

"Like Zeref..? Do you think it's possible, Natsu?"

He shrugged, still drooling absentmindedly and paying no attention to her words.

Lucy sighed and left as well, leaving only the pink-haired boy in the, for now, empty room.

"Who was it? Who does that remind me off…? It's annoying, I can't remember… " He asked to no one in particular, uncharacteristically calm. "Was it…"

He paused for a couple of seconds, thinking hard- an unusual behavior for the resident flame-brain. It gave him a funny expression.

"Nii-chan?"


	2. Chapter 2

**My reaction to chapter 450: AAAAAAAAAHH**

 **Wait… is that why Zeref wants fairy heart? Kinda stalker-ish but cute.**

 **Onto the story now.**

 **Sorry if there's mistakes, no one proofread this. Please point them out if there are.**

 **ZERVIS FOREVER**

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"Erm. Year X696, Yuriy's child, Makarov, is born." Said Mavis as if the whole guild hadn't had to chase her around for an hour and _then_ taken another hour to convince her to come outside the tree trunk to continue the story.

Everyone was seated in silence (for now). Erza had been subtly encouraged to sit on the edge of the room, thus putting half the guild outside of her whacking range.

Mavis hadn't protested, half hoping they would interrupt her and she wouldn't have to relive that awful part of her life.

"I was chosen as godmother… So I named the child after a king I read about in a book, a long time ago…"

Makarov blushed oh-so slightly and darkly muttered "This is not what's important, First."

There were some surprised exclamations ("You're Gramps' Godmother?! THAT old?!") but they hushed down pretty quickly.

But the ghost didn't continue her story right away. She looked at the face of all of the members of the guild, one by one.

There was no one left from the original guild, she thought; Warrod resigned, Yuriy and Precht were gone, even the others had long died… Would anyone know if she twisted the story a little?

But… she didn't want to lie. Not to her family. They deserved to know the truth, as awful… and embarrassing as it was.

"That day…" Mavis took a deep intake of air, "was the first time my curse killed someone."

Hushes erupted in the room again, but the first master's stoned expression lead to think worst was to come and they died fast enough.

"I took the hand of Makarov's mother, Rita, and she died."

No one spoke.

Mavis' cold tone made more than a few shudder.

Her words and attitude conveyed four words.

"This was the beginning."

Mavis' newfound monotone made a few more chill.

"I ran away. I know some of you have seen the curse before- a sphere of darkness that drains the life of all it touches… The curse of contradiction. The more you love life, the more you steal it away. If you do not love life, you will not take it."

No one spoke. Mavis seemed to watch something very far away, although whether it was far in space, or in time, or both, none of them could tell.

" I've withered trees… killed animals… humans too… from that day forth I didn't step foot into the guild. I wandered aimlessly… and countless lives disappeared around me."

There was few sobs in the assistance, although it was faster to count those who didn't look saddened by the old child's tale.

Laxus, Natsu and Gray looked angrier than ever before.

Evergreen had retreated near Elfman, subtly looking for comfort although he was crying and muttering about manly.

Mest and Carla were silently trying to comfort Wendy.

"I spent that last half a year without eating, but I could not seem to die. That is how he found me again."

Mavis' tiny fists were clenched and she was biting her lips.

"I… I begged him to kill me, but he told me he couldn't, just as much as I couldn't kill him. I wouldn't have died even if beheaded."

Mavis was speaking much faster now.

She was no longer there, with them; her mind was reliving events of a distant but painful past, her eyes were watching a land foreign to their time.

"We talked, but the more he spoke, the more I realized how much the curse and the loneliness affected his sanity. His thoughts were contradicting themselves; he didn't know what he wished for anymore. He said he wanted to see his brother again, and claimed he wanted to destroy him immediately after. He was so confused it was painful- so painful that it dragged me out of my own agony."

Her audience's breath stopped around this point.

"I reached out to him. I told him… I told him I was the only one who could understand how he felt. I told him we would break this curse together. Hand in hand."

A noisy sniffle prompted the rest of the guild to go "HUSH"

"Back then... We both cried."

And Mavis was crying too.

"The abyss of magic. The beginning of everything. Such as the unifying magic, love. Love makes miracles. And, at times, is also capable of calamities. The love of these two, afflicted with the curse of contradiction…"

"Why is she narrating like an idiot pumpk-whack-Erza, don't throw chairs!"

"Brought forth one final contradiction. The curse that causes one to steal life the more one loves it…"

The guild that had recommenced breathing after their hush resumed apnea again.

"Stole away my supposedly immortal own."

Silence. A fly could be heard- until Laxus zapped it without moving.

They were all in shock.

This was by far the most tragic story they had heard- because _that implied Zeref had truly loved Mavis._

Can a monster truly love?

Is a man who loves truly a monster?

Is a monster that is not allowed to love a true monster?

She was hiding things. She obviously was.

They gave her a minute of silence before Wendy went and hug Mavis.

Then came a tearful Erza, Lucy, Mirajane and Lisanna, followed by Elfman, and soon everyone was group hugging in a very cute manner that can't last for too long because this is supposed to be a funny fic and I had enough angst and tears for a month, thank you very much.

"Wait, Zeref has a brother?" asked Gray.

That was probably the most intelligent comment, as the others included (but are not limited to):

"nothing prepared me for this"

"I'm heartbroken"

"A moment of silence for the Zervis ship"

"zervis is CANON!"

"THE SHIP HAS SAILED GUYSSS"

"The Fairy Tail fandom is in ruins holy hell…"

"GUYS

I GUESS YOU CAN SAY THAT ZEREF LOVED MAVIS TO DEATH"

"The real question is will jerza have an albis ending or a zervis ending"

"…I didn't even fully ship Zervis and I wanna cry…"

"Psychic, err, Erik: *reads my mind*

My mind: *zervis zervis zervis why why why why why zeref zeref zeref Mavis dead Mavis dead kiss kiss kiss YOU FUCKED ME UP*

Psychic, err, Erik: what the fuck!"

"YOU CAN HEAR ME CRYING EVEN IN MARS

WHY THEY DO THIS TO ME. MY ZERVIS FEELS. OH GAWD."

"all I can say… a kiss to die for"

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT HOW DID I MISS THE ZERVIS KISS"

"not sorry for the zervis spam, cause they are fucking cannon and half dead. So no, not sorry at all"

"WHO THE F*** IS THAT MASHIMA GUY?! AND WHAT THE HELL IS ZERVIS?!" asked Laxus, upset that no one talked about him.

"K-Kiss?!" said Erza, in shock.

"Okay, let's beat up stuff. I'M ALL FIRED UP!"

"Calm down, guys," tried Gray. "Zeref has a f****in brother. We can-"

"Nah, it's not important," said the first and last masters in chorus, avoiding his eyes.

Mavis sniffed and tried to smile. It looked a bit forced, but she was thankful for her family's support.

"Thank you all. For listening."

And she disappeared.

"K-Kiss?!"

"Hang on First… you haven't finished…" tried Makarov.

"SHADDUP DO YOU KNOW HOW PAINFUL THAT IS YOU'RE LIKE AWW FIRST KISS LUV AND BAM YOU SEE THE WHITE LIGHT AND THE GUY YOU'VE HAD A CRUSH ON FOR TEN FRIGGIN YEARS JUST KISSED YOU AND HE'S SO F*CKIN DESPERATE AND CRYING AND HE KILLED YOU BECAUSE HE LOVED YOU WHEN YOU TWO HAD FINALLY GOTTEN AN ACTUAL REASON TO LIVE?"

The outburst seemed to come from outside, and gradually grew softer as the distance grew. Mavis was getting farther and farther…

Wait.

Farther and farther?

"K-Kiss?"

"GUYS WE NEED TO CATCH HER! STOP SOBBING!" shouted Gray.

"But the feeeels" complained Levy.

His glare stopped most of the sobs and they slowly crawled out of the room to search for the little ghost girl again, tears flowing.

"K-Kiss?"

* * *

"Well, Natsu…" Zeref said to the book of END as if he wasn't talking alone. "It seems that you won't need to hear about my meeting with Mavis from me. Good, it was kind of embarrassing. Now all that you have to know is how you ended up with Igneel… Not that _it_ was embarrassing or anything… Erm… What was I talking about?"

* * *

"K-Kiss?"

"Erza, shut up and help us."

* * *

 **There are too many Tumblr posts for me to credit everyone, so I'll just say that I did not invent them, please don't be offended if I cited you because this is trying to be funny, and I share both the pain and the excitement. I just don't have an account.**


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